Do you want to build a snow man?

"Mama. I like Christmas. Got present. Got snow!" 

"No Seth, we do not have snow in Singapore." 

That was a conversation between my wife and Seth before they knew about #PSSnowhouse.

Part of #LINEFRIENDSWORLDTOURSINGAPORE, they actually built a temporary container outside of Plaza Singapura and brought snow there! I know, the hashtag is so long it will satisfy anyone. Cough.

You would probably know what it is like if you have visited Snow City in Singapore. 

It was Seth's very first time and obviously he had a good time!

And I obviously photoshopped my face given how fat I am now. 

Details: 

To redeem a pair of tickets, you just have to spend a minimum of $45 in a single receipt at CapitaLand malls. And if you used an Amex CapitaCard, its 2 pairs for the same amount!

This is happening from now till 26th Dec 2019.

Questions and Answers.
Here are some answers to the questions that I gotten via my IG's DM.

• You are highly encourage to bring your own equipment. 
• Else, they have it available for rental as well. However the jacket size starts from 3yrs and up.
• They are not smelly in my opinion. Quite well maintained so far.
• Socks and pants are compulsory. 
• You are allowed to bring in your DSLR cameras.
• Yes, Seth's gloves are too big for him. But that's probably the smallest. 
• Seth is turning 4yrs old and is 95cm. If your child is below 7yrs old you will need an adult companion for this. 
• I am very fat and they still have outfit for me. Yes, they look tight. Don't be annoying. 

Besides this event, LINE also has a series of events happening in various Capitaland Malls!

 More information here!



It's more than just building snowman and taking selfies. They also have a large slide (for 8yrs old and above) that connects level 2 to 1 as well as a tiny slide for pussies the smaller kids like Seth. (3 - 6 yrs old)

P.S. If you are preggo or ate too much buffet like my wife, you are not allowed inside. LOL.

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Let’s Get Healthy @ North East

What is the meaning of being healthy to you? Eat well? Sleep well? Regular exercise? Or is it as simple as not having bad habits such as not smoking or drinking? Being healthy is not as easy as simply having knowledge but also having the discipline to follow through what you know.

A comprehensive community-led health initiative for North East residents named Let’s Get Healthy @ North East was launched by North East CDC, Changi General Hospital, Sengkang General Hospital, SingHealth Regional Health System and Health Promotion Board on 3 February (Saturday).

I attended the launch of the initiative to check out what is it all about. The launched started at 8am and just by waking up early to attend the launch already made me feel a lot healthier. LOL.

The initiative is targeted at residents aged 40 and above. Let’s Get Healthy @ North East will provide residents with a structured framework consisting of 5 elements – “SEEDS”:

a)    SCREEN (encourage and provide regular health screenings)

b)    EDUCATION (via health awareness talks)

c)    EXERCISE (via organised weekly physical exercise sessions)

d)    DIET (healthier cooking demos and nutrition workshops)

e)    SUPPORT (the Health Peers network – coaching to support fellow residents).

Residents Committees will be able to customise SEEDS activities into their own suite of programmes based on their respective population profiles and needs. All SEEDS activities will be held in convenient community locations with a focus on making them easily accessible for all residents.

Activities were lined up for the residence to enjoy on the day of the launch.

No prize for guessing which is my favourite game. LOL

These health tip standees sure got my attention. Especially the following ones. This is literally my achilles heel. Fine, my achilles heel, not so literally.

I wish but is it even possible? LOL.

What good is Netflix if I can’t do this?

Did I also tell you that I’ve my phone beside my pillow every night when I sleep? I’m sure this applies to everyone.

Guilty as charged, I look at my phone after every set at the gym. LOL.

See, I’m really not the healthiest person just based on 1 standee.

Let’s Get Healthy @ North East is being rolled out first in Kaki Bukit, Sengkang Central and Tampines Changkat. Each cycle of activities covering the 5 “SEEDS” will take seven to 12 months.

According to Mayor Desmond Choo who was present at the event that day, he said that Sengkang Central has to be 1 of the first to launch this initiative is because the MP of the area, Mr Teo Ser Luck’s muscle “Jin tua liap”. Ya, he did say that jokingly on stage.

Mr Teo who was also present was sharing about his own health story on stage. His bicep really quite tua liap right?

Jokes aside, the initiative is not just for these 3 districts and CDC will monitor the impact of this community initiative over the next year. If responses are positive, CDC will offer it to the rest of the 15 divisions in the North East District so more residents can benefit from this.

To encourage more residents to participate, a special ‘Let’s Get Healthy Passport’ will be issued to participants, enabling them to earn SEEDS activity attendance stamps that can then be redeemed for gifts and shopping vouchers.

This community initiative was co-developed by North East CDC, Changi General Hospital, Sengkang General Hospital, the SingHealth Regional Health System and the Health Promotion Board. Other partners who are contributing their expertise and services include National Healthcare Group, National Kidney Foundation, and Singapore Cancer Society. The strong health-community partnership led by North East CDC ensures that the initiative will be sustainable and scalable.

Residence getting health check done.

Mass exercise for the residence.

“Let’s Get Healthy @ North East connects community partners with healthcare expertise in a sustained manner, engaging, encouraging and supporting residents to keep well. We‘re very pleased to see a strong partner like the North East CDC stepping forward to help convene and harness the strengths of the regional health system and its partners Sengkang General Hospital and Changi General Hospital toward helping keep their residents healthier,” said Adjunct Professor Lee Chien Earn, Deputy Group CEO, SingHealth Regional Health System.

See, all these MP, doctors, Professor, CEO can be quite funny at events as well. LOL.

More Information

Start Date: March 2018

How to join? What activities will there be?: Stay tuned to www.cdc.org.sg/northeast for more information on the upcoming events!

P.S. I think one of the secrets to look good is to wear Underarmour polo tee. Just look at these two.

Teo: I tell you, Chinese New Year you play poker, if you get pocket pairs just all the money hoot only!

Choo: yes master yes master.

*Confirm fake lines. Please don’t take it seriously.

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Heart Bakers @ North East with Cheryl Koh

My two favourite persons

Being a mum is hard. I’m not saying being a dad is any easier, it’s never a contest so don’t be sensy

dads. LOL. In fact my wife is in the bedroom now struggling with my sick son. It’s a great deal of

decision making when it comes to having kids simply because the responsibility and time spent

on a kid is no joking matter.

I always count my blessings that we are a complete family and both my wife are earning decent

income to not just support baby Seth but also at the same time have a little extra to get ourselves

a helper to help out with the family as well as a supportive mother and mother-in-law who help out

when we need. Truth be told, we were a little overwhelmed by the arrival of little Seth at the initial

months when we did not have the helper. The lifestyle change, not having our own couple time,

me-time, or even time to go to the movies as and when we want to. Everything was about settling him,

and making sure our schedules work around him.

Not everyone is as lucky as we are to have so much support from friends and work. Being a mum

can mean giving up a lot for the family. I’ve heard stories about women giving up their career for

their family and kind of regretting it after.

Recently I attended an event organized by North East CDC together with Chef Cheryl Koh who

was also named “Asia’s Best Pastry Chef” in the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants awards in 2016 to

launch their newest programme call Heart Bakers @ North East. This programme is also

supported by Bizlink Cafe.

The new programme aims to help underprivileged stay-at-home mums start a baking business and

earn some income. North East CDC will provide them with a WSQ F&B Safety & Hygiene

Course. For this good cause, Chef Cheryl has also come up with a brand new cookie recipe that stars

traditional Oriental ingredients like dried longans, wintermelons, and red dates.

If you are asking yourselves all these questions like how to be part of it or how to get some of the

cookies, here is a simple Q and A I’ve put together for you!

How do I sign up?

You can email your interest to northeast_cdc@pa.gov.sg

How can I benefit and be part of this program?

Beneficiaries will have to be a stay-at-home mum and have a household income less than $3,000 or

$800 per capita. You can be either married or single.

When will be the next session?

Interested participants can send an email to enquire and you will advise them accordingly.

How do I buy some of these cookies to support the course?

There’s currently an order form for organisations. You can just email Jason (Jason_NG@pa.gov.sg)

or call Bizlink (98801744) to arrange for pickup/delivery.Delivery is free for orders above 50 jars.

There will be a delivery fee of $30 for any orders below that or you can choose to pick up at Bizlink.

How much are the cookies?

They are $9.90 per jar.

How does the mums benefit from this program exactly?

50% of the total revenue will go towards BizLin, which is a charity organisation, and the rest of the

profits will be distributed among the beneficiaries as income.

Chinese New Year is just around the corner so do your part for these mums!

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Future Of Us - Jobs of The Future

Some moons ago I was talking about how I really do not enjoy attending events anymore, but last week I actually attended one and I must say I'm glad I attended this one. (Which i kinda had some doubt before the event started. Read on and you will know why.)

I'm glad not because they took nice picture of me lah. 

I was having a lot of doubts about attending this event cause it's not the typical kinda event where I just have to be there and be good looking, take some pictures and eat my buffet. On the email, it says "dialogue session with minister Lim Swee Say". Meet minster leh!!! What if I say the wrong thing? What if they do not even allow me to stand near him because I look like some bad guy. But my worry was put to rest when I saw this other person who attended the event with me looking even more suspicious than me.

Damn chio right my friend? Wanna make a guess who is she? (answer will be at the end of post)

What the hell! Who goes to an event and meet the minister looking like this? 

It was actually a fun (surprisingly) and rewarding session I must say. The session started off with a role playing game. (Not the type I like) We were given this card that has different attributes and we were known as the job seekers and the objective was to, well, find a job. 

Given how many family days, team building events, or corporate training games I've designed and facilitated when I was in the events industry, I pretty much figured out what this game was all about without much explanation. erm... not because they didn't mentioned but because shewe were late.   

I really like how the session started with a light hearted game to break the ice for everyone before leading into the main QnA Session. The whole event was facilitated by Minister Lim himself, yes, including the game! I was actually like right beside him with no security guard holding me!! YAY!

Anyway, because of this event, I actually gotten myself some extra mileage both on the TV and on the Internet (again, I know. Sorry guys. I didn't mean to do disrupt you normal TV programs again.). 

I was interviewed by CNA about how I feel about the event. Link

As well as interviewed by the most annoying entertaining interviewer ever about my experience.  Link 

With these two very detailed interviews, I should just skip my whole event experience thing. On top of just being fun and engaging, this event got me thinking about some of my own life experiences both as an employer as well as an employee. How have things changed since the day when I was the fresh grad until today where I am on the other side of the table. 

Early Days

I remember every detail of my first interview for my first full time job. I was seated across this table with two gentlemen looking at me. Asking me questions after questions and the question that I totally saw it coming - why the change of industry? Why do I want to pursue a career in events management instead of being a computer engineer which I was trained in school to do so. Being young and ambitious I told them the most cliche answer ever - Passion. (hair stands) 

I got the job. And it's not because of my very awesome interview but because of my willingness to take a very low pay. I have friends in that company and I know the starting pay for a diploma fresh grad with relevant qualification was $1,800. I knew I do not have that but I wanted the job so much. Not just because I needed the money but simply because I want to be in this industry and pick up the relevant skill and experience. I bite the bullet. I lowered my expectation and I got my very 1st job at the pay of $1,350. For the 1st three to four months, I worked an average of 14-16hrs each day including weekends. I was so poor because I needed money to buy outfit for work, I needed to pay for alcohol food and transport but I was SOOOO happy. I have never felt that satisfied from being tired and working. 

I didn't became cash rich from this very 1st job of mine but I learnt so much. I met so many people. My network was a few times bigger than before. I was very proud of myself at the end of it, because when I left the company and needed a new job, jobs came to me and I've so many ex-clients recommending me jobs with way better pay and I could take my pick. The 30 months of lack of sleep and bread eating paid off I guess. (okay lah, not that poorthing lah, I ate more than bread. Or else how did I even put on so much weight after I ORD from army.)

Being a Young Employer

Fast forwarding the story, 5 years later after my 1st job, I started my very own events company. It sounded pretty cool to some of my peers that I was a self-employed, but being self-employed also means doing everything yourself and both your success as well as failure lies on your hands. There is no such thing as sitting around and wait for payday.

The team was lean and hiring was out of the question at the beginning. We grind hard, we got lucky and very soon we got too many projects. Too many for the two of us. We needed to hire. 

You know what was the most painful part? Everyone came in asking for a relatively high pay simply because they have some degree. Some of them has close to 0 job experience and they always tell me that "They are willing to learn and are fast learner." 

I am totally cool with people learning on job because that was what I did but the fact is that I didn't ask for a very high pay. I do not understand why must I pay you such a high pay and teach you my trade? I do not think this is very fair to me at all. There are a few things I look for when hiring somebody. 1. Solve my problem. (Work for me, handle my clients, basically I get more hrs to do other things.) 2. Bring in more money for me. (Basically your network, your contacts etc.) So these fresh grads are coming in with neither of the above and still ask for high pay and the only thing they were selling me was "Good Attitude". 

It was so painful to hire good people as a small startup with limited resources and the "kids" out there seriously not helping. High expectation simply because they got a degree, asking for OT pay etc. But who pays you OT for events, advertising and PR industry?? X_X   

My Point is...

If you read and watch my interviews from the two links above, you will know why I bring up these two experience of mine. I mean I can't comment on a macro level of the job market as I haven't been a job seeker for a while and neither am I hiring on a big MNC level where I have a headhunter on it.

What I could totally relate from this Role Playing Game is really the difference in expectation between employers and employees. We all wanted to be treated fairly. We all like to be compensated like our peers. And we all like a big fat pay cheque. But do you know what else I like? To have dinner with Kristen Bell! (maybe also Anne Hathaway, Jennifer Lawrence, or Emma Stone.. oh oh! Anna Kendrick! I digress) The truth is we do not always get what we want in life. We have to be realistic and to be fair. If you have nothing to offer, it is very highly unlikely you are going to get anything in return and that's that.

The idea is the same for any negotiation at work besides hiring. We always need to create a win-win situation in order for the other party to bite. Somethings gonna give. (Or at least that's what I believe)

I mean unless we are making deals with Pablo Escobar. Not much room for negotiations. 

Image Source: CNA, Unscrambled.sg and FloraIsabelle.com (No Kirsten Bell, so Flora Isabelle also okay lor.)

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Why I No Longer Attend Blogger Events

When I talk about "event" I mean like Media Event and Parties. Like being "happening". We always look very happening for the 5 secs for the picture but actually most of the time we were just looking into our phone twitting, updating Facebook and all.

Looking fancy and all cool on social media to tell people like "hey~~ my weekend is cooler than yours"

Don't get me wrong. I mean event was fun. Especially like when you get to attend beauty event with 10,000 other beauty bloggers and they are all female.

And most of the times you get to go places that people don't get to go and meet famous people.

Not to mentioned booze, booze and you get to make new awesome friends. You don't even know when the friendship will escalate until you can meet her without makeup and all. And also sometimes some interesting work opportunities.

Despite all these perks and all it seems that I haven't been attending event much and I am getting questioned about these 1 time too often these days.  "Eh, you going this event or not" "How come I never see you there" etc etc. So below are my replies. I don't wish to sound like diva or cocky so if I do in this post, I am not sorry. :X (kidding lah. I am sorry.) 

1. Readers Are Bored With Event Stories 

We go lancing lancing and meet new people. Photo by William I think. 

It was a cool and shiny new toy. For awhile. Readers were entertained by the fact that we can go to events and do cool things. They find that the things we do are interesting and they want to grow up and be like us. I mean also attend the event when it is open to public but these days I find that, or at least for my readers, events blog post are getting very little attention. Partly because these days everyone(events and product) build their own media in terms of their own FB pages, own Instagram where mass audience can find information easily on official accounts instead of having the need to read it off a blog.

2. Events are getting too predictable 

Attend event and found my long lost younger brother.

Events can get a bit too predictable these days. I am not saying because they are boring but events are very costly. To make things worst, I have been in the industry for almost 9 years now. Not just attending event but event planning as well. Nothing impresses me more than the fact that I can be in my boxers at home in front of my PS4 these days. I can recite a typical event flow with my eye closed, drunk and balancing two bottles on my shoulders but I shall not bore you with the details. But you get my point.

3. Age Gap 

Just a random event photo. These people also not very young.

Besides the fact that I am growing old. It is inevitable that we get young people into the field year after year. The topics we talk about are different and we are just mostly different people from different part of our lives with different ideology about things and blogging. Given an event is a short period of time and very likely I might not even see you again because you drop off the whole blogging thing as you can't get freebies anymore, so we might not see each other again and I find it very tiring to pretend like I am involved in a conversation with you. (generally you, not exactly you. Don't get offended pls)

I might have shared this story 1 time too many but I got people asking me at event about how to get better readership, how to get more sponsors, how to become famous instead of how to write good content. Maybe because they find me as a very popular "celebrity" over a talented man. Both not true. Okay. I shall go back and cry now.


4. I am married 

Do I sound like I am complaining? NoooooOOoOoOooOOo.. Just in case. I am not. Being married means 2 become 1 (I bet you are humming the tune) where you don't just manage your time. You have to manage two individual's time. Those and also because when you are married, it doesn't give you a lot of ROI to go to event and hit on girls anymore. So events gotten way way way less fun when you are off the market and should not be hitting on girls. And also because (everyone knows I am married. It was on the papers.) too many girls out there knows my wife thus she has a lot of eyes watching me.

5. I have nothing to wear 

I'm not even kidding.

This is legit. When you go event you need to respect the event and also look nice but suiting up is not funny in Singapore. And also sometimes you are very worried about overdressing or underdressing especially with invites that says stupid things like "SMART CASUAL". I mean smart is who I am and how I look. So casual is like flip flop and slippers to me. A shirt and pants don't make me smart, it makes me look formal and stupid. So smart casual is like polo t-shirt and pants? That makes me an uncle unless I am tiger woods.

6. Lazy 

Meeting cool bros and doing funny things together. 

Lazy like really lazy. Lazy to dress up, lazy to drive out on weekend, lazy to find parking, lazy to go and entertain and lazy to blog there after. It is true. This has to be the bottom of all reasons. Sometimes I am actually very interested in the event or product that is gonna be launched but going to find out a product which is like 20mins I need to travel 1hr two ways, I need to talk to people and go through some programs that I have no interest and pretend to smile for camera for 3hrs. Not even sure if I'm lazy or I'm being calculative with my time. So sometimes it really works better if you send me release, send me product and I will tell if you I need to visit your place if I want to do a story or feature.

7. Budget Cut, no event 

This is the kinda event I really liked. Many pretty girls and got famous people. #Practical 

As practical as it sounds I believe it is true and it may actually be for the better. Many clients felt that wining and dining the bloggers leave them with very low returns. No doubt they do gain a lot of intangibles like brand image etc and more importantly a close relation with certain key influencers but it is just not enough for some or even most of them. You really have to see the objective of the event, where you are standing, what is your product etc. I am not saying that all events are pointless or low in ROI

To paint a better picture let me give you some example which can be a little long.

For example,

A decent event launch you will need host, decor, FnB, goodie bag, event team, sound system, PR notes, program etc will easily drop a bomb on you from 5 - 20k. If this budget comes out from a bigger PR budget where you get to invite key investors, other business partners and then bloggers might be a good thing cause your dollars are spread across the people but if you are doing it only for bloggers you might get a low return especially with drop out rates.

For those interested, typically if you want to have 20 bloggers at an event, you will send invite to a good 50-40 pax. (Unless your event is like event of the life or you are very close to them) with maybe 30 pax showing interest and only 20 pax eventually RSVP-ed. 10 of them might not turn up and out of the 10 who turned up, maybe only 4 will give you a post on time, 2 with IG or late post and other 4 just gone into the air.

With the work and logistics and what not, for the convenience of calculation, maybe you spent 4k on the event and that basically means each post cost you $1,000 which is way more expensive than a sponsor post to most bloggers unless you are talking XX, LIC, DFD etc.

You do the math.

8. Not Famous Enough. No Invite 

I mean there's nothing much to explain here. Just me being not famous enough cause ROI too low and also maybe I don't fit the product or party. But I am happy cause I can spend time at home slacking playing my game or play some ball with my Half Court Heroes. 

You should still invite me. 

To be honest, I am not saying NO to everything. i still attend event where I get to hangout with some of the familiar faces which sadly rarely happens these days. Some became mother while some just fall off the grid entirely.

You should still invite me so that I can reject you because there are still some events that get me interested.

For example, recently I attended the launch of the Huawei P8 which I totally should do a review but I am procrastinating. I really want to share with you about the phone because it is pretty cool and also because I left early from the event and went and meet Jac and my Wife. Thus not able to tell you how fun it was on the boat ride they actually did for the guests! : X

Anyway, so if I offended you in anyway because going events is like your calling and you need to be at every event invite, invited or not. I am very sorry. So are you still a big fan?

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USS with Indra Bekti and migme!

WTF IS MIGME?

So the big question was asked in the blogger sphere some weeks back by our number 1 influencer - Xiaxue, "WTF is Migme."

In 1 sentence – it is a social media platform. Full story, you have to read the reply from the inside. LINK: WTF IS MIGME

This is mig.me's mascot midori. They are paperdoll made by Grace and I think they will be super cute if they make Funko version of this! 

So besides being a social media platform, migme also works very closely with different celebrities in the region and thanks to them I get to meet the multi-talented Indra Bekti!

Grace, Indra and me! 

Humble Indra is Humble

I've met my fair share of celebrities and "multi-talented" people in my life so far and I must say Indra is really really humble given who he is. I know some of you might be asking "who is he" if you don't follow the Indonesia entertainment industry. We got stopped multiple times by his fans at USS asking for photos. Not only did he oblige but he also did it happily. I've met celebrity who did it with a black face and only smile after "1,2,3" but Indra was truly sincere about it. He talk to his fans and all. I am truly impressed by this man! #Respect.

Obligatory shot at USS! Almost like the need to visit the great wall at China.

I am no celebrity or somebody but yet during the trip we were having a lot of fun together like friends. Trust me, given in the entertainment industry, I've met bloggers who do not even want to talk to you simply because he/she is "more famous" or of a "different league".

Who is that handsome young man and happy lady?

So by now you must be wondering who are the other 2 person with us. The handsome young man and the happy lady. So what happened here is that Indra launched a new book and has a campaign and they were the winner of the campaign and they won a trip with Indra. Super cool right! So if you can read Bahasa Indonesia, you can check his book out.

The New Puss in Boots' Giant Journey 

Since we are at USS we do not want to miss the new ride "Puss In Boots' Giant Journey". I am always very amazed by how much effort they put into such rides. It is really beautiful! Not the scariest ride but it is about just ride for me. Although I am a big guy with tattoo and loud mouth, such rides doesn't work very well with me. GPGT!

I've taken the revenge of the mummy ride for like 4-5 times but I am still scared. Getting scarier every year.

Wait, is that Grace Tan? 

Picture from workingwithgrace.wordpress.com

Hannar Hannar. That is Grace Tan from the recent drama online that made headlines. Having 1 extra friend is better than having an extra enemy right? I know there are people asking me questions about her after those drama but, I believe every friend has differences and I don't think we have to chew each other's head off simply because of different ideology in the business? In short, we had fun during the outing. #Peace #NoHardFeelings #NotTalkingAboutMyDick

Once again, thank you USS and Migme for hosting.

Do check out migme, don't forget to follow me. I promise to be more active there.

Smithankyou Migme

TL;DR Version

Where: Universal Studio Singapore USS
Who: Indra Bekti and Grace Tan
Why: Because migme got jio
When: Too late for you to join

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